Prince Felix Yusupov was
a Russian aristocrat and prince who came from the Yusupov family…he had a
couple of claims to fame…he was best known for participating in the
assassination of Grigori Rasputin…he is also known as being behind the 1932
lawsuit he and his wife filed…they successfully sued MGM in the English courts
for invasion of privacy and libel in connection with a film called ‘Rasputin
and the Empress’...Now the alleged libel was not that of the character of Felix,
or that he had committed murder but the lawsuit centered on the character based
on his wife, who in the movie was called "Princess Natasha" and she was
portrayed as having been seduced by Rasputin. In 1934, the Yusupovs were
awarded some £25,000 in damages which was a huge amount of money at the
time…that is why you see the disclaimer at the end of all American movies that
says something like: ‘The preceding was a
work of fiction, any similarity to a living person, any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.’
